OUR BELIEFS
Doctrine is central to any local church. It gives shape and definition to the way we understand God, the way we understand ourselves, and the way we understand the world around us. At Kossuth, it is our desire that all our doctrinal convictions flow from Scripture and ultimately be submitted to Scripture. Our Statement of Faith is a core expression of how we have come to understand the Bible's teaching on the most important matters of the faith.
OUR STATEMENT OF FAITH
1. THE SCRIPTURES
We believe the Holy Scriptures to be the very Word of God, the product of the breath of God and thus verbally inspired in all parts. Therefore, the Holy Scriptures are without error as originally given by God. They are altogether sufficient in themselves as our only infallible rule of faith and practice. In addition, they are the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds and opinions should be tried (II Timothy 3:16-17, II Peter 1:19-21).
II. GOD
We believe in the one Triune God who is personal, spirit, sovereign, perfect, infinite and eternal in His Being. He is also wisdom, power, love and holiness. God is separate from and above the world as its Creator and still present everywhere as sustainer of the world. He is self-existing and self-revealing in three distinct persons-the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, each of whom is to be honored and worshipped equally as true God (Mark 12:29, Psalms 104, John 5:23-26, I Corinthians 8:6, Revelation 4:11).
III. THE FATHER
We believe in the Father, the first person of the Triune God, who orders all things according to His own purpose and grace and who continually upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and events for His own glory. His Fatherhood is fundamental to His divine being. He is the Father of all people as their Creator. He is uniquely the Father to our Lord Jesus Christ as well as to all who believe in Him. He has appointed His Son to judge humanity and will one day hold us accountable to His standard (Isaiah 64:8; Malachi 2:10; Matthew 5:45, 48; John 1:12; Acts 17:31; Romans 8:14-17; 15:6; II Corinthians 1:3, 11:31; Galatians 3:26; 4:4; Ephesians 1:3' 2:18-19; 4:6; I Peter 1:3' I John 3:1).
IV. THE SON
We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the Triune God. Without any essential change in His divine person, He became man by the miracle of the virgin birth, thus to continue forever as both true God and true man. He was tested as we are, yet without sin. As the perfect Lamb of God He gave Himself in death upon the cross, bearing there the sin of the world, suffering its full penalty of divine wrath in our stead. He rose from the dead and was glorified in the same body in which He suffered and died. As our High Priest He ascended into heaven, there to appear before the face of God as our Advocate and Intercessor (John 1:1, Matthew 1:23, Colossians 2:9, Hebrews 4:15, Galatians 3:13, John 20:25-28, I John 2:1).
V. THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe in the Holy Spirit who is the third person of the Triune God. The Holy Spirit is the divine agent in creation, revelation and redemption. He convicts the world of sin, restrains evil and regenerates those who believe. He indwells, baptizes, seals, empowers, guides, teaches and sanctifies all who become the children of God through Christ (Acts 5:3,4, I Corinthians 2:10, John 16:8-11, I Corinthians 6:11-19).
VI. MAN
We believe in the creation and fall of man, that he was directly created by God and was not in any sense the product of animal ancestry. Man was made in the divine image. He sinned through his personal disobedience to the revealed will of God and brought physical and spiritual death to the entire race. Man is universally sinful in both nature and practice, alienated from the life and family of God and has no possible means of recovery or salvation within himself (Genesis 1:26-28, Genesis 3:1-24, Romans 5:12, Ephesians 4, Romans 1:18)
VII. SALVATION
We believe in salvation by grace through faith. Salvation is the free gift of God, neither merited nor secured in part or in whole by any virtue or work of man, but received only by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ all believers presently and personally possess a host of blessings: the gift of eternal life, a perfect righteousness, sonship in the family of God as well as deliverance and security from all condemnation. Further, in Christ, the believer possesses every spiritual resource needed for life and godliness and the divine guarantee that they shall never perish (Romans 3:24, Titus 3:5, John 3:16, I John 5:13, II Peter 1:3).
VIII. SATAN
We believe in the existence of Satan. We further believe that he was originally created a perfect and holy being but through pride and unlawful ambition he rebelled against God, thus becoming completely corrupt in character. Satan is the adversary of God and His people and the leader of all evil angels and spirits, the deceiver and god of this present world. His powers are supernaturally great but limited by the purposes of God who overrules all of his wicked devices for good. Finally, we believe that Satan was defeated at the cross, thereby making certain his final doom (Ezekiel 28:13-17, John 8:44, Revelation 12:9-11, Matthew 12:24-26, John 16:11, Ephesians 6:12-18).
IX. THE CHURCH
We believe in the One True Church, the body and bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. He began to build the Church on the day of Pentecost and will complete it at His Second Coming. The Holy Spirit baptizes all true believers of the present age into the church. Members of this spiritual body should assemble themselves together in local churches, consisting of baptized believers associated by a covenant of faith. The believers should meet for purposes of worship, prayer, fellowship, evangelism, giving, teaching, united testimony and the observance of the two New Testament ordinances. Those ordinances are baptism by single immersion, as a public testimony of faith, and the Lord's Supper, a commemoration of the death of Christ. According to Scripture, there are two officers in the church: Pastor, also called elder or bishop, and deacons (Ephesians 4:4, Acts 2:41-47, I Corinthians 12:12-13, Hebrews 10:25, Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 8:26-39, I Corinthians 11:23-28, I Timothy 3).
X. ESCHATOLOGY
We believe in the Second Coming of Christ. His return will be personal, visible and glorious; our blessed hope. The time of His return has not been revealed but is always imminent. When He comes, those who have died in Christ will rise from their graves. Living believers will be transformed into an immortal state and all believers shall be forever with Christ. In the end, a new heavens and new earth will be prepared for the people of God. In the meantime, we should live lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God and the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 1:11, Titus 2:11-13, I Thessalonians 4:16-18, 2 Peter 3:12, Revelation 20:11-15).
XI. LIFE AFTER DEATH AND ETERNAL JUDGEMENTS
We believe in future life, bodily resurrection and eternal judgment. The Spirit of believers, upon their death, go to be with Christ in heaven where they abide in joyful fellowship with Him until their bodies are raised from the grave. Their bodies will be changed into the likeness of His glorious body and their works shall be brought before the judgment seat of Christ for the determination of their reward. The spirits of the unrighteous, upon their death, go into Hades, where they are kept under punishment until the final day of judgment. At that time their bodies shall be resurrected and they shall be judged, condemned and cast into the place of final and everlasting punishment, the lake of fire (Philippians 1:21-23, I Corinthians 15:35-58, II Peter 2:9, Luke 16:19-31, Revelation 20:11-15).
XII. DISTINCTIVE LIVING
We believe that, as children of God and citizens of heaven, distinctive and holy living honoring the Lord Jesus Christ should characterize the life of every believer and local assembly. We do not believe that salvation is obtained through these things, but that they are proper evidence or fruit of our salvation. While acknowledging the ongoing daily struggle every believer has with sin, we ought nonetheless to spur one another to love and good works. We do this by speaking the truth in love and through our example of sacrificial and holy living in accord with God's Word. Furthermore, we commit ourselves to biblically confronting unrepentant sin for the purpose of maintaining a membership that evidences distinctive living for the glory of God (II Corinthians 6:14-18; I Thessalonians 5:22; Ephesians 5:3-11; Colossians 3:1-10; Romans 16:17-18; II Thessalonians 3:6, 14; II Corinthians 5:20; Ephesians 2:1-4; Galatians 6:10; Matthew 5:44; Romans 12:18; Hebrews 10:24-25; I Corinthians 5:2)
XIII. SPIRITUAL GIFTS
We believe the Spirit manifests His power in the church today by giving each believer spiritual gifts for the common good. There are many kinds of spiritual gifts, with each of them to be used in submission to the Scriptures and for the purpose of building up the body of Christ (I Corinthians 12-14, Romans 12:3-8, Ephesians 4:11-16).
XIV. MEN AND WOMEN
We believe that Adam and Eve were created in God’s image, equal before God as persons and distinct and complementary in their sexuality. As part of the goodness of God’s creation, each of us should joyfully embrace and express the biological sex we were created as, whether male or female. Sexual intercourse is reserved for marriage, which is between one man and one woman only. Marriage ought not to be within the boundaries of family relationships forbidden by the Word; Christians should marry only other Christians. A husband is the head of his wife and should humbly lead and sacrificially love her as Christ loves the church, cherishing her and nourishing her spiritually. A wife should intelligently submit to her husband as to the Lord, respecting him and encouraging his leadership. Men and women have equal value and dignity before God and share equally in the blessings of salvation; nevertheless, some governing and teaching roles within the church are restricted to men (1 Corinthians 14:34-36, Ephesians 5:21-33, Colossians 3:18-19, 1 Peter 3:1-7, Titus 2:5, Genesis 1-3, 1 Timothy 2:11,12, 1 Corinthians 7:2, Ephesians 5:3, Hebrews 13:4, Matthew 5:28, 1 Timothy 1:10, 2 Corinthians 6:14, Leviticus 18).
We believe the Holy Scriptures to be the very Word of God, the product of the breath of God and thus verbally inspired in all parts. Therefore, the Holy Scriptures are without error as originally given by God. They are altogether sufficient in themselves as our only infallible rule of faith and practice. In addition, they are the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds and opinions should be tried (II Timothy 3:16-17, II Peter 1:19-21).
We believe in the one Triune God who is personal, spirit, sovereign, perfect, infinite and eternal in His Being. He is also wisdom, power, love and holiness. God is separate from and above the world as its Creator and still present everywhere as sustainer of the world. He is self-existing and self-revealing in three distinct persons-the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, each of whom is to be honored and worshipped equally as true God (Mark 12:29, Psalms 104, John 5:23-26, I Corinthians 8:6, Revelation 4:11).
We believe in the Father, the first person of the Triune God, who orders all things according to His own purpose and grace and who continually upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and events for His own glory. His Fatherhood is fundamental to His divine being. He is the Father of all people as their Creator. He is uniquely the Father to our Lord Jesus Christ as well as to all who believe in Him. He has appointed His Son to judge humanity and will one day hold us accountable to His standard (Isaiah 64:8; Malachi 2:10; Matthew 5:45, 48; John 1:12; Acts 17:31; Romans 8:14-17; 15:6; II Corinthians 1:3, 11:31; Galatians 3:26; 4:4; Ephesians 1:3' 2:18-19; 4:6; I Peter 1:3' I John 3:1).
We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the Triune God. Without any essential change in His divine person, He became man by the miracle of the virgin birth, thus to continue forever as both true God and true man. He was tested as we are, yet without sin. As the perfect Lamb of God He gave Himself in death upon the cross, bearing there the sin of the world, suffering its full penalty of divine wrath in our stead. He rose from the dead and was glorified in the same body in which He suffered and died. As our High Priest He ascended into heaven, there to appear before the face of God as our Advocate and Intercessor (John 1:1, Matthew 1:23, Colossians 2:9, Hebrews 4:15, Galatians 3:13, John 20:25-28, I John 2:1).
We believe in the Holy Spirit who is the third person of the Triune God. The Holy Spirit is the divine agent in creation, revelation and redemption. He convicts the world of sin, restrains evil and regenerates those who believe. He indwells, baptizes, seals, empowers, guides, teaches and sanctifies all who become the children of God through Christ (Acts 5:3,4, I Corinthians 2:10, John 16:8-11, I Corinthians 6:11-19).
We believe in the creation and fall of man, that he was directly created by God and was not in any sense the product of animal ancestry. Man was made in the divine image. He sinned through his personal disobedience to the revealed will of God and brought physical and spiritual death to the entire race. Man is universally sinful in both nature and practice, alienated from the life and family of God and has no possible means of recovery or salvation within himself (Genesis 1:26-28, Genesis 3:1-24, Romans 5:12, Ephesians 4, Romans 1:18).
We believe in salvation by grace through faith. Salvation is the free gift of God, neither merited nor secured in part or in whole by any virtue or work of man, but received only by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ all believers presently and personally possess a host of blessings: the gift of eternal life, a perfect righteousness, sonship in the family of God as well as deliverance and security from all condemnation. Further, in Christ, the believer possesses every spiritual resource needed for life and godliness and the divine guarantee that they shall never perish (Romans 3:24, Titus 3:5, John 3:16, I John 5:13, II Peter 1:3).
We believe in the existence of Satan. We further believe that he was originally created a perfect and holy being but through pride and unlawful ambition he rebelled against God, thus becoming completely corrupt in character. Satan is the adversary of God and His people and the leader of all evil angels and spirits, the deceiver and god of this present world. His powers are supernaturally great but limited by the purposes of God who overrules all of his wicked devices for good. Finally, we believe that Satan was defeated at the cross, thereby making certain his final doom (Ezekiel 28:13-17, John 8:44, Revelation 12:9-11, Matthew 12:24-26, John 16:11, Ephesians 6:12-18).
We believe in the One True Church, the body and bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. He began to build the Church on the day of Pentecost and will complete it at His Second Coming. The Holy Spirit baptizes all true believers of the present age into the church. Members of this spiritual body should assemble themselves together in local churches, consisting of baptized believers associated by a covenant of faith. The believers should meet for purposes of worship, prayer, fellowship, evangelism, giving, teaching, united testimony and the observance of the two New Testament ordinances. Those ordinances are baptism by single immersion, as a public testimony of faith, and the Lord's Supper, a commemoration of the death of Christ. According to Scripture, there are two officers in the church: Pastor, also called elder or bishop, and deacons (Ephesians 4:4, Acts 2:41-47, I Corinthians 12:12-13, Hebrews 10:25, Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 8:26-39, I Corinthians 11:23-28, I Timothy 3).
We believe in the Second Coming of Christ. His return will be personal, visible and glorious; our blessed hope. The time of His return has not been revealed but is always imminent. When He comes, those who have died in Christ will rise from their graves. Living believers will be transformed into an immortal state and all believers shall be forever with Christ. In the end, a new heavens and new earth will be prepared for the people of God. In the meantime, we should live lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God and the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 1:11, Titus 2:11-13, I Thessalonians 4:16-18, 2 Peter 3:12, Revelation 20:11-15).
We believe in future life, bodily resurrection and eternal judgment. The Spirit of believers, upon their death, go to be with Christ in heaven where they abide in joyful fellowship with Him until their bodies are raised from the grave. Their bodies will be changed into the likeness of His glorious body and their works shall be brought before the judgment seat of Christ for the determination of their reward. The spirits of the unrighteous, upon their death, go into Hades, where they are kept under punishment until the final day of judgment. At that time their bodies shall be resurrected and they shall be judged, condemned and cast into the place of final and everlasting punishment, the lake of fire (Philippians 1:21-23, I Corinthians 15:35-58, II Peter 2:9, Luke 16:19-31, Revelation 20:11-15).
We believe that, as children of God and citizens of heaven, distinctive and holy living honoring the Lord Jesus Christ should characterize the life of every believer and local assembly. We do not believe that salvation is obtained through these things, but that they are proper evidence or fruit of our salvation. While acknowledging the ongoing daily struggle every believer has with sin, we ought nonetheless to spur one another to love and good works. We do this by speaking the truth in love and through our example of sacrificial and holy living in accord with God's Word. Furthermore, we commit ourselves to biblically confronting unrepentant sin for the purpose of maintaining a membership that evidences distinctive living for the glory of God (II Corinthians 6:14-18; I Thessalonians 5:22; Ephesians 5:3-11; Colossians 3:1-10; Romans 16:17-18; II Thessalonians 3:6, 14; II Corinthians 5:20; Ephesians 2:1-4; Galatians 6:10; Matthew 5:44; Romans 12:18; Hebrews 10:24-25; I Corinthians 5:2).
We believe the Spirit manifests His power in the church today by giving each believer spiritual gifts for the common good. There are many kinds of spiritual gifts, with each of them to be used in submission to the Scriptures and for the purpose of building up the body of Christ (I Corinthians 12-14, Romans 12:3-8, Ephesians 4:11-16).
We believe that Adam and Eve were created in God’s image, equal before God as persons and distinct and complementary in their sexuality. As part of the goodness of God’s creation, each of us should joyfully embrace and express the biological sex we were created as, whether male or female. Sexual intercourse is reserved for marriage, which is between one man and one woman only. Marriage ought not to be within the boundaries of family relationships forbidden by the Word; Christians should marry only other Christians. A husband is the head of his wife and should humbly lead and sacrificially love her as Christ loves the church, cherishing her and nourishing her spiritually. A wife should intelligently submit to her husband as to the Lord, respecting him and encouraging his leadership. Men and women have equal value and dignity before God and share equally in the blessings of salvation; nevertheless, some governing and teaching roles within the church are restricted to men (1 Corinthians 14:34-36, Ephesians 5:21-33, Colossians 3:18-19, 1 Peter 3:1-7, Titus 2:5, Genesis 1-3, 1 Timothy 2:11,12, 1 Corinthians 7:2, Ephesians 5:3, Hebrews 13:4, Matthew 5:28, 1 Timothy 1:10, 2 Corinthians 6:14, Leviticus 18).
Our statement of faith is an excerpt from our church constitution.
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